ead of being suspected, he was pitied for having so much useless
trouble. Meanwhile, Monsieur de Lamotte's money difficulties increased,
and the sale of Buisson-Souef became inevitable. Derues offered himself
as a purchaser, and actually acquired the property by private contract,
dated December, 1775. It was agreed between the parties that the
purchase-money of one hundred and thirty thousand livres should not be
paid until 1776, in order to allow Derues to collect the various sums at
his disposal. It was an important purchase, which, he said, he only made
on account of his interest in Monsieur de Lamotte, and his wish to put an
end to the latter's difficulties.

But when the period agreed on arrived, towards the middle of 1776, Derues
found it impossible to pay. It is certain that he never meant to do so;
and a special peculiarity of this dismal story is the avarice of the man,
the passion for money which overruled all his actions, and occasionally
caused him to neglect necessary prudence. Enriched by three bankruptcies,
by continual thefts, by usury, the gold he acquired promptly seemed to
disappear. He stuck at nothing to obtain it, and once in his grasp, he
never let it go again. Frequently he risked the loss of his character for
honest dealing rather than relinquish a fraction of his wealth.
According to many credible people, it was generally believed by his
contemporaries that this monster possessed treasures which he had buried
in the ground, the hiding-place of which no one knew, not even his wife.
Perhaps it is only a vague and unfounded rumour, which should be
rejected; or is it; perhaps, a truth which failed to reveal itself? It
would be strange if after the lapse of half a century the hiding-place
were to open and give up the fruit of his rapine. Who knows whether some
of this treasure, accidentally discovered, may not have founded fortunes
whose origin is unknown, even to their possessors?

Although it was of the utmost importance not to arouse Monsieur de
Lamotte's suspicions just at the moment when he ought to be paying him so
large a sum, Derues was actually at this time being sued by his
creditors. But in those days ordinary lawsuits had no publicity; they
struggled and died between the magistrates and advocates without causing
any sound. In order to escape the arrest and detention with which he was
threatened, he took refuge at Buisson-Souef with his family, and remained
there from Whitsuntid